Digital imaging systems, such as digital cameras, are used in many critical situations, such as automotive applications and security applications. For example, as digital imaging improves, advancements are being made in automated driver assistance systems (ADAS) wherein a driver is assisted by use of a digital camera. A fault in the digital camera used in automotive applications or other critical applications can have severe detrimental implications. For example, in automotive applications, the failure of a digital camera that is being relied upon by a driver may cause a vehicle collision.
Complete failure or partial failure of digital cameras can be instantaneous or gradual over a long period. For example, physical impacts on a digital camera can damage a lens or other components in the camera, which causes an instantaneous failure of the digital camera. The failure can be a complete failure in which the digital camera fails to operate or it can be a partial failure or degradation in which the images captured by the digital camera are degraded. Over long periods, the characteristics of pixels and other components in the digital camera can change, which slowly changes the operation of the digital camera and can eventually lead to a complete failure.